sweet escape
by silver moon droplet
Summary: firstplace: zexiri heartbreaks can’t be healed with scotch tape, they ache until you let them all out. emotions


**A/n: so this is for Jade's contest—which I got this very crack!tastic idea for. & jade is pretty swell herself—so I'm like epic for the win. So let's see the crackact pairings we have for you today: well the main dish is a lovely kairi-zexion, some axel-roxas-kairi jokes are made, follow by the spicyness of axel-roxas which could be consider canon but it's actually kinda crack. There is some Marluxia-selphie-demyx (as a love triangle) for the lovely jess. Ahaha. And hell I'll let the rest be a surprise!  
****Categories (because two isn't enough) hurt/comfort/angst/ romance/friendship/drama/tragedy/ humour  
****Warnings: cussing, guy-guy relationship, slightly suggestive humour, rape implishion, emoness and amoung other things.**

**Disclaimers: dood if I owned kingdom hearts stuff like this would happen. Nor do I own Final Fantasy, Shrina or Materia—or anything else mention in here; except the plot & I totally own that. **

She sucked on her lollipop, watching her domain fall, she watched her mother fall to the ground screaming as her father beat her senseless. She popped a jawbreaker into her mouth. It smashed against her lollipop. She watched as her mother tried to get away. Her father had the upper hand- he always did. Smashing her into the wall, calling her a fucking bitch. She often wondered why her father did this. Her brother used to say that it was because he was a drunken piece of shit, but her brother wasn't there anymore. No, the redhead had left her and her mother- for a blondie- without a speck of him left. She missed him very much. He always stopped him before something bad happened- always- but now he wasn't here, and there was nothing she could do.

She was only fifteen; she couldn't push her father away… not without getting hurt.

She didn't like getting hurt.

She blinked; her mother had stopped moving. Her lollipop fell out of her mouth. Her father kicked her mother, trying to send a jolt through her body, but there was still no movement. She was dead. Her father walked away, stumbling into the kitchen and pulling out another beer, then popping it open as he walked back into the room. He poured the substance on her- all over her- and then, his daughter couldn't take it anymore. She screamed. She screamed and screamed, until she felt her lungs were going to bleed. She ran when he came near her, still screaming.

She felt a throbbing pain in her head, then nothing. She awoke the next day in the hospital with her brother by her side. She stared at him. He looked at her, tired and vulnerable. This wasn't the big brother that had left her on Christmas morn three years ago. No, this was some other man posing as her big brother; his emerald green eyes had tattoos under them and he was skinny… too skinny.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" she wanted to snarl, but she hurt all over. Instead, she pretended to be asleep. It wasn't too hard. She lay with one eye closed, the other watching her brother, and that's when _he_ came in. The guy with the spiky blond hair and two coffees in hand came up to her brother's shoulder; her brother embraced him when he had entered.

"Axel," he mumbled. "I was only gone for five minutes" he joked, weakly. Kairi could tell he was at a lost at words for the situation, or she would have if she hadn't been so concerned with who he was. He was a little older then herself- maybe seventeen or eighteen, and she had never seen him before nor heard her brother mention him. He could be a friend he met when he went away, but Kairi knew her brother. He didn't go around hugging people he hadn't known very long. She smiled; he was like her mother in that sense. She stopped playing her memories by like a tape.

"Blondie, don't leave my side." Axel whispered harshly.

He nodded then looked at Kairi. "How is she?"

Axel walked over to her, sitting on her bed. "Doctor what's his face—"

"Ansem, Axel, the doctor's name is—"

"I don't give a _damn _what his fucking name is Roxas!" He snapped.

Roxas sipped at his coffee, while the room tensed with silence. "So, Doctor Bitch Face says…?"

Axel smirked, returning to his story as if nothing happened. "She'll be fine. She has a small concussion, but luckily, the cops came before he could do anymore damage to her..." he was choking on those last few words.

"Axel—" Roxas tried to comfort him, but he moved away.

"Kairi is going to have to come and stay with us," he said flatly, changing the subject.

Roxas snorted. "You can't be serious."

"She's my little sister; I can't just let her wander…"

"I know," he began, clasping his hand behind his head. "You think having a girl live with five guys is okay?"

"Three. You and I don't count."

"I dunno, Axel. She's awfully pretty. She might just be able to convert me."

"To what?" he smirked. "You couldn't survive without me."

"How do you feel about Bisexualism?"

Axel laughed. "Shut up, Blondie."

"Or incest, because I think that'd be kinky."

"Whatever blows your hair back," he flicked the blond's nose.

"How about a threesome?" Kairi chimed in weakly.

They both turned to her, paled by her appearance, or rather, her remark. She looked at the both of them. When her mother her told her Axel left with a blondie, Kairi had assumed this 'blonde one' was a girl.

"Oh c'mon, I was just kidding!" she said with a fake smile. It hurt to smile.

"How long have you been up?" Axel asked, bluntly.

"Well—I'm fine, thanks for asking, big brother. I'm glad you've decided to introduce me to your man." She stared at him, with a piercing glare. "You couldn't have picked a better time!" her words were coated in sarcasm and bitterness.

"Leave Roxas out of this," he growled. She flinched. His expression softened a bit, and she could see the guilt in his eyes when she had opened hers. "I'm sorry, Kai, I didn't mean for him to—"

"Kill her?" Kairi finished for him, still staring at him with disgust. "Then you shouldn't have left—you knew what he did to her! So instead of taking care of it, you just get up and leave!" she screamed, tears falling down her face.

Axel fell silent staring at her; she started to sob. Roxas walked over to her and hugged her, trying not to hurt her. She hadn't known Roxas for fifteen minutes, but she squeezed him hard, and sobbed into his chest.

"It's okay," he breathed.

She hated hearing those words- her mother had always said them. "It's okay" her mother would chime. "They're just bruises, baby, he hasn't broke anything." Kairi didn't tell Roxas that. No, she let him hold her and she cried, because it's all she could do.

Kairi was in the hospital for the next week, and during that time, she talked to Roxas and Roxas alone. When she was released, they headed over to the apartment. In the last week, Roxas had caught her up on her brother's life. He worked up in Hollow Bastion, far away from Kairi's own paradise, Destiny Island, but lived with Roxas in Twilight Town. They wouldn't move because Twilight Town had sea salt ice-cream, which Axel was addicted to. She didn't know what her brother did- Roxas never said- but Roxas worked in Twilight Town as an office assistant to House of Mouse Ink. House of Mouse Ink was a publishing company, so Roxas worked with a lot of writers. Kairi liked that; it sounded fun.

Axel and Roxas lived with three other men. Demyx, who was a musician. Marluxia, who worked with plants… doing… something- Kairi couldn't remember. Last, but not least, was Zexion, and Roxas still wasn't sure what Zexion was. Marluxia had originally owned the entire complex; he had started out to renting to Roxas, whom he had attended college with. Next came Demyx, who he went to high school with, and Zexion had come with Demyx; no questions asked. When Roxas had met Axel and they had become an item, Axel moved in with them all. Kairi was surprised to find out Roxas was the same age as her brother. He laughed when she looked surprised.

"I look like I'm fifteen; I get it all the time!"

She had learned a few things not to do while she was there. She learned never to mock Marluxia's hair color; Axel did once, and he doesn't talk about it. Demyx's instrument was a sitar. Just smile and nod to him, and don't talk about Selphie ever. When she questioned who Selphie was, Roxas smiled and told her she would see. Finally, the most important rule was to never, ever bother Zexion while he was reading.

"Got it memorized?" Roxas asked, looking at Axel, who kept his eyes on the road.

"Mmm-hm." Kairi smiled. It felt so unreal.

"Good- we're here!" he laughed nervously as the car pulled into the driveway. Axel didn't even look at her. He just got out of the car, opened up the trunk then grabbed her stuff. Roxas helped her out. She stood looking at the building; it was huge and pink. She didn't see him coming; he picked her up and squeezed her. She looked at him. He was different with his blondish brown hair that was styled in a mullet. He had friendly green eyes, but the thing that she was taken aback by was his smile. His smile wasn't like Kairi's forced and plastic smile, nor like Roxas' sympathetic one. It was something else- friendly and happy to see her.

"It's nice to meet you!" he said as he put her down, and then turned to Axel. "Why didn't you tell me, your sister was so cute!"

"Cute? Oh, I see, you haven't heard her speak. You won't think she's cute for long."

"Shut up," Roxas told him, turning back to the mullet haired man. "She really is a good kid… Speaking of Kairi—this is Demyx."

Demyx shook her hand, laughing, she reminded herself to ask him later where he bought his happy pills and where could she get some. He led her into the house to meet the rest of the gang, which Kairi wasn't to up to; she wanted to let her nightmares eat her in attempt of sleep.

"Marluxia is out with his—girlfriend," he spat, obviously a sore spot, Kairi noted. "So you won't be able to meet him right now, but Zexy is here!" he pulled her along, pointing out rooms she should be remembering, but didn't feel like it. She wished she could get him to stay quiet, but she didn't want to be rude. Zexy- or Zexion, to anyone who wasn't Demyx- was in the library; Demyx explained that his friend was a bit of a bookworm.

That wasn't all he was—back before when Kairi used labels, she would have considered Zexion an emo or a loner, maybe both. He had lilac hair that covered one of his blue eyes. He was glaring at Demyx, for he had brought a stranger into his domain. A stranger who was staring at him. She mumbled a hello and then got the hell out of there. For the first time since her mother had died, she had felt something good and she hated herself for it.

She ran into her brother, literally, causing her to fall. "What the hell—oh," he held out his hand to her. "It's just you." She stared at his hand for a long time, before she grabbed it and he hoisted her up. It was odd. Standing beside him it made her feel like he was a complete stranger, rather than her older brother. They both stood waiting for something, both too stubborn to start.

"So…" Axel began, once he realized she wasn't saying a word.

"So…" Kairi echoed.

"Look, Kai, I know you're mad."

"Well—gee willy, Axy, what ever gave you that idea."

"Don't call me that."

"Ditto."

"What?"

"Only family can call me Kai, you gave that up three years ago."

"You're the one who let her die!" he bellowed, causing her to flinch and drop to the ground. It was too late, she knew; Axel had her father's temper and it was on high rage. "You could have stopped him, so don't be blaming this on me, princess. You could have stopped him just as well as I could."

No, she told him in unspoken words, she couldn't; she couldn't save her mother from the big bad wolf. No, Little Red was too afraid of the pain and the words. She was fragile, and she couldn't stop him. She couldn't stop him from eating her mother alive. She had tried, and she shivered at the memory. She got up and walked past Axel, sure that he was done, but he grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Look at me, Kairi," he whispered. She didn't try to move from his grasp; he was stronger. "Fine—then listen—I didn't mean it, what I said… I… I'm sorry—honest to god." She looked at him, searching his eyes for lies, but she found not a trace. "I didn't leave so you could take care of the mess. I didn't want to, but I did, and I can't change that."

"That's right- you walked out..." She pulled her arm away from him. "If you think I am going to forgive you for it, just forget it now. I won't forgive you for it." She began to walk away, and then stopped. "Ever." She left him to find Roxas, tears rolling down her cheek. She walked into a couple; she blinked. The boy was tall with blue eyes and pink hair; this must be Marluxia. The girl had brown hair and green eyes and came up to the boy's shoulder.

"Hi!" piped the girl. "You must be Kairi, Axel's sister right?"

She nodded, still staring at Marluxia until she caught his eye. Then she looked away.

"I'm Selphie, Marluxia's girlfriend! It's really nice to meet you!" she babbled, but Kairi wasn't really listening. She heard from Roxas that none of them knew what had happened, so she didn't get the sympathy looks or anything else. She saw people's real smiles and how they really acted. It was different.

"Hi, Demyx!" Selphie shouted, causing Marluxia to flinch. Kairi wondered why, but not for long, when her mullet haired friend came over. He mumbled a hello to Selphie, glared daggers at Marluxia, and grabbed Kairi's arm, pulling her away from them. In the few hours that she had known him, she knew that this was a very sore spot for him; he was pissed.

"Dem?" she said, trying out a nickname.

He stopped, letting go of arm and then shook his head. "Sorry, Kairi, I don't know what came over me..." he laughed, cheerfully.

"It's okay—" But he put his hand to her mouth, his eyes pleading for no more; she fell silent.

"Selphie and I… we used to date for a bit. It was nice and everything was fine…" his voice drifted off. "But one day, she told me that she couldn't see me anymore… because she was in love with someone else," he sighed. "It's happy hour for them and loser version for me." He laughed a little, and then turned to her. "I get a little…weird when I'm around them…sorry in advance."

"It's fine." She smiled.

"You know, you shouldn't smile if you don't mean it…" said another voice. They turned; it was Zexion. "Are we going, Demyx?"

Demyx slapped his forehead. "Sorry, Zexy, I forgot all about it!" He turned back to Kairi. "Have fun while were gone!" he said as he skipped off to get his things.

Zexion walked away from her before she could say anything; she stared at the spot where he had been standing. She wanted to throw something at that said spot, because despite all the plastic she put up; he saw right through her. She hated him so much that it hurt, and if she knew where her room was suppose to be, she would be in there. She would be bawling her eyes out in that room, but she didn't have a clue where it was supposed to be. So she stood there, and she cried long and hard until Roxas came.

Sometimes she wished that Roxas was her brother instead of Axel, but she knew she wouldn't be here if he was. Kairi was led to her room- her very pink room. It was small compared to her old bedroom, but it had all her things in it. He left her to unpack, but instead, she sat on her bed and started to cry… and cry she did. She did a lot of crying for the next few days, hardly coming out of her room. She didn't want the world to see her at her weakest point. But Kairi wasn't a princess, and the world didn't revolve around her, so of course Axel just had to enroll her into school.

Public school, no less. Kairi used to be the type of girl who would wrinkle her nose at such a thing. Now she just sulked in Axel's car, for she was out of her room and going into a world unknown. Twilight High- better known as Twilit to its students- wasn't like the prep school she had attended, but she liked it. It wasn't huge, but it certainly wasn't small, and nobody knew her. She could be anybody she wanted to, she told herself, because being the girl who lost her mother was getting old. The story was that Kairi's father was on a business trip in Traverse Town. He'd be there awhile, so she had come to stay with her brother- her loving, caring brother who had taken her in on such short notice. It made her want to puke.

She started as soon as possible, which was on Monday. The old Kairi would be ecstatic. but new Kairi didn't really care. New Kairi was indifferent to everything around her; old Kairi would be furious. She closed her eyes, falling into the wreckage of sleep, her days of pleasant sleep long gone.

"Class—" called the teacher. She was a pretty young girl, at least Selphie age. She smiled sweetly at Kairi- a 'welcome to our class' smile. "Class!" she called, more firmly this time; the ruckus ended. "Thank you—this is our new student, Kairi Chalmers."

"Is she related to Axel Chalmers?" squealed a girl in delight. Kairi didn't not enjoy being talked about, as if she wasn't even there. Besides, what was up with her brother? He wasn't all that great; she would know.

The teacher, Aerith, nodded weakly. She sat down at her desk, as the fan girls mobbed Kairi.

"OH MY GAWD!" squealed the girl again. "YOU MUST GET US INTRODUCED!"

"I love your brother!" chirped another.

"He's so sexy!"

Kairi looked around for help- anyone willing to sacrifice themself for the new girl? She looked around for takers. None. She cursed to herself, reminding herself to kick Axel later.

"Hey, ladies—ladies, please—give her some room to breathe." Her savior smirked at her before entering the crowd of fan girls. She knew despite the rabid-ness that he loved the attention. He flipped his silver hair and a girl fell to her feet. Kairi rolled her eyes, was grabbed by someone, and pulled out of the crowd. She looked at her other savior; he reminded her of Roxas, only with brunette hair. He gave her a cheesy grin.

"Are you related to Roxas?" she blurted out, mentally kicking herself. That was smooth.

He laughed. "Yeah, I'm his little brother. I guess that makes us in-laws."

"Not officially," she smiled, jealous that he was Roxas' brother.

"You shouldn't smile like that," He put his hands to her face, forcing her to smile a real smile. "There, much prettier."

"Are you done flirting, Sora?" the silver-haired boy asked.

Sora laughed, poking his cheek. "Someone left their mark on you…"

"Oh gross," he took his sleeve and wiped it off. "It was probably Yunie; she's been getting a little more daring lately."

"Tidus would kill you!" Sora said, mortified.

"Hey! When I'm hot, I'm hot." He smirked at Kairi, who resisted the urged to gag. "So you're Axel's sister?"

"My name—in case you haven't notice—is Kairi. K-A-I-R-I! Got it memorized, asshole?"

He laughed, holding his sides. "Definitely related to Axel!" He grabbed her hand and began to scribble something down. "My name is Riku. R-I-K-U, and that's my number. Got it memorized?"

She stared at him, and for the first time since her mother died, she really laughed. School wasn't that bad; she actually liked it for one thing- she, Sora and Riku became close the first day and many days after. She wasn't completely happy, but it wasn't obvious. She didn't tell Riku and Sora that she cried herself asleep at night, nor that her nightmares kept going worst each night and that sometimes she felt like slitting her—no, because those weren't the type of things Kairi was suppose to say. They couldn't tell anything was wrong- nobody could- well, at least she thought nobody could. She needed to get a book out of the library that Marluxia had sworn up and down would be in there, and, of course, it wasn't.

She cursed, muttering something about needed to find it, and she began looking everywhere for it. He tapped on her shoulder. She blinked, turning to him. Zexion. She hadn't seen Zexion since the first day she came, which was well over a month ago. She smiled at him when he handed her the book she needed, but before she could say thank you-

"You shouldn't smile if you don't mean it." It was the same blunt tone he had used the last time.

"Why not?!" she challenged him.

He stared at her for a moment then smiled, but this one she couldn't label or identify. "Didn't your mother teach you that lying was wrong?" he ruffled her hair then walked out.

She threw the book across the room. Oh, how she hated the man of few words. She refused to see what Demyx saw in him, as a friend, of course. She decided to head to the garden and find out. The garden was where Demyx spent most of his free time when Marluxia wasn't around; he would sit and write or play his sitar until his fingered bled.

"What's Zexion's deal?" she asked, bluntly.

Demyx was writing—he looked up at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what do you see in him—"

"Kai, I'm not gay—"

"As a friend."

"Oh!" He put his hand on his chin, thoughtfully. "Zexy- he was always there for me… I mean, sure, he seems a little—"

"Ass-hole like?" Kairi interrupted.

Demyx scowled at her. "—mean, but once you get to know him…" He smiled. "He's a great guy…"

"But what does he do?" she whined. "How can I get to know him? He's a complete stranger!"

"You'll just have to bug it out of him like I did."

Kairi sighed. "You aren't very helpful…"

"I'm not the one who fancies him!"

Kairi's face began to turn a beet red. "I do not! …Fancy? What are you, British?"

He laughed, pulling up his best British accent. "That'd be professor Luxord, lub, now let's get some tea and—" He stopped. Kairi, who had been giggling the whole time, stopped too. She was staring at what Demyx was looking at. Selphie and Marluxia. But it looked like paradise was about to come breaking down, and Demyx and Kairi had front-row seats. Paradise—she watched as Selphie fell apart. He yelled, and she yelled. She cried, he sneered, and then Demyx punched him. Then she watched Marluxia fall, Selphie push Demyx off and run away. Then she watched him fall apart.

Kairi realized that she couldn't burst into action like Demyx did. No, she was a 'sit-and-watch-it fall-into-place' type of girl. She envied Selphie, who had Demyx at her fingertips, but was more angered by the way she had pushed her friend away. She watched Zexion come and help Demyx calm down. She walked over to Marluxia who shot her a look that said, "You don't belong here". He had no idea how right he was.

Roxas didn't ask why Kairi didn't want to go to school; he didn't ask why she wouldn't get out of bed. He just asked if she wanted some company. When she replied with a cold "no", he informed her that he would have Sora gather her schoolwork for her. She wanted to say "thank you", but her lips stayed together, and she sat in her bed. Alone, once more, she cried. She cried for her mother and she cried for Demyx, whom Marluxia had kicked out the next day. She cried for Zexion, who wouldn't come out of his room, and she cried for Marluxia who wouldn't listen. Kairi told herself again and again that she was crying for them and their pain, but she knew just like him. That it was a lie.

She stayed in bed for days, not seeing anyone or talking to anyone, hardly touching the food that Roxas had sent up for her, and not looking at her homework piling up. She would stay like this for the rest of her life, if they would put up with it. She expected Axel or Roxas, but not him. Marluxia sat in the chair by her desk. She laid with her back turned to him. In all the time she had known Marluxia, he'd never said much. He had hurt Demyx, so she vowed to hate him. But the more she sat thinking about what made him so bad, she wondered to herself, did she really hate Marluxia? He touched her and her skin crawled.

"I'll make you a deal," he whispered. His voice was so quiet, she could hear herself breathing. "I'll let your friend come back, but you have to get out of this bed…" His arm moved to her side. "It's not healthy to have such a skinny figure," he whispered into her ear. She hadn't realized how close he was to her until his lips touched her neck. His hand moved slowly down her side to her waist; she shivered.

"Stop it!" she hissed, her own voice surprising herself. "Stop it or I'll—"

"What? Make little Roxy or Axy come and rescue you?" he snickered. "Poor little princess…" he mocked her, pinning her down. "Her princes are away…" she could smell something on his breathe. It smelled familiar. She closed her eyes, remembering.

Her father was sitting in the living room. She was sitting down with him, and they were both calm when the knock came on the door. She scurried to go answer it, but her father stopped her and went to do it himself. She shrugged, not thinking much of it, and returned to her television program. It was a sitcom that she had become addicted to. She didn't pay much mind to her father and his friend when they came in, but she did remember them talking.

"Just one in your drink, it'll complete you," he chuckled, handing her father the bottle. She remembered it. It was the bottle she was always told to get with the stuff started with a shin—something or other. He had took one that night and had gotten all weird. He threw things at her and the television, screaming and hollering, and then he grabbed her by the arm and slammed her down on the ground. All she could remember was the pain- that awful pain and that smell… the disgusting smell.

She remembered it now: Shrina. It was some sort of drug that her father took. She opened her eyes and blinked. There wasn't pain or anything. It was just black.

"Great, I've died and gone to hell," she mumbled to herself.

"You aren't dead—hell, maybe, but not dead."

"Zexion?" she called, he put his hand gently on her cheek.

"I'm here, you're okay—he's gone…."

"What happened?" she whispered.

"Nothing—I came before—yeah…" he mumbled.

"Thank you." She tried not to cry, she tried really hard; but she couldn't help it. She couldn't hold it in any longer. He took her in his arms and just let her cry. He didn't say anything; he just held her and rubbed her back, letting her cry into him.

"Why is some purple-haired emo kid following you?" Sora whispered to Kairi, who put her hands on her hips.

"I'm not an emo kid…" Zexion retorted.

"YOU CAN'T HEAR ME- I'M WHISPERING!" Sora whispered harshly.

Zexion gave Kairi a look that said, "help me", but Kairi just smiled and waved towards Riku. He sat down next to Sora, raising a questioning eyebrow to Kairi. She sighed, not bothering to explain; Kairi didn't want to go school and she was only conned into it when Zexion said that he'd go with her. So instead, Kairi sent him a 'shut up now' glare, and bit into her apple. It was going to be a long day.

She had to go to court today, after school, to testify against her father- something she would never want to do, but the lawyer conned Axel into it and she was trapped in a corner. Father—a word she hadn't used in so long, she had almost forgotten it, and she wondered if they— Riku, Sora and Zexion— knew the truth about why Kairi had come. Would they still be there with her, Sora sticking straws up Riku's nose? —wait. She laughed hard, falling out of her chair.

"Kodak moment..." she said, between giggles.

"Shut up, Kairi."

"I bet the year book committee would _love_ that!" Sora chimed in.

Riku glared at him. Sora burst into laugher. Sora's one sworn enemy was sure to make him laugh until pop came out of his nose. She looked at Zexion, wondering if he felt out of place. He just smiled at her, and she averted her eyes to the ground. Luck was not on her side. Riku caught this little motion and elbowed Sora.

"Looks like you might have some competition."

"For what?"

"Kairi's heart…"

"What?" Sora and Kairi demanded.

"I mean, c'mon Riku, they're just friends."

"Yeah!"

Riku shrugged, watching Zexion very closely. Zexion just stared right on through. Riku backed down, turning his attention to Sora.

"Maybe not." He mumbled, playing with his food.

"And what do you mean competition, Riku?! I'm not a trophy!"

Riku was quiet, so Sora stepped in. "So, Roxas' birthday is coming up…" He smiled at Kairi. She blinked. She didn't know when Roxas' birthday was. A pang of jealously went through her chest.

"Oh?"

Sora nodded, happy that Kairi was interested. "Yeah—the big twenty-four—so, as his spy, I gotta know what Axel is getting him."

She blinked, looking at Sora. Roxas knew that they weren't close, so why would he ask Sora to do that? "I don't know," she said, which was the honest truth.

"Oh well, I just hope he doesn't have another movie!"

"What?"

"Yeah, last year, Axel had a shoot, and Roxas spent his birthday alone."

"A shoot?"

"Yeah, you know, with the whole acting bit?"

"Acting?" she said in disbelief. "You aren't serious…?"

"Have you been living under a rock?" Riku asked, after he finally gained composure.

"Axel… acting? We are talking about MY brother, right?"

"Yeah, you're brother, Axel Chalmers, starring as Reno in the Final Fantasy series…"

" Reno?!" she screamed. "He's using dad's name?!"

Riku and Sora blinked, confused. "I guess, but Axel has been acting for awhile…didn't he tell you?" Sora asked.

Kairi stood up, screaming bloody murder, and walked out of the lunchroom, followed closely behind by Zexion. Riku looked at Sora, grimacing.

"I guess he didn't."

"Axel!" she bellowed as she entered the house. "GET YOUR UGLY, STUPID ASS DOWN HERE NOW!" she screamed.

"Kairi—"

"YOU STUPID LYING BROTHER OF FAME AND FORTUNE!"

"But Kairi—"

"What, Zexion?!"

"Axel isn't here…"

"Oh."

"Yeah..."

"You could have told me that, before I left school…"

"You were showing emotion— I couldn't help it."

"What?"

"Since you came here, you've been holding everything up with a plastic frontier—but now, you're angry and sad… human."

"You thought I was a robot?" She blinked.

He laughed, and she liked the sound of it. It was nice and soothing. "No, just hurting… but you're showing emotion, so it's getting better…"

"No, it still hurts."

"Maybe, you should talk about it."

She stared at him for a long time. She stared silently, wondering if he really cared, wondering if he really wanted to know. She wondered how it would feel talking about it to someone else. All of it- not just her mother's death. Her father, Shrina, her brother, everything- she wondered how she would feel after it was all out.

"ZEXY!" Demyx shouted with glee as he tackled the boy. Kairi smiled, saved by the mullet-haired kid. She watched Zexion struggle with Demyx. "LISTEN… LISTEN!" He looked at Kairi. "I was at the coffee shop, you know the one by the hill, playing my sitar when this weird girl comes up to me!" he smiled; remembering her. "So we start talking, and she was amazing. I bought her a cup of coffee- Materia flavored, her favorite-"

Zexion pushed him off, getting up. "Get to it, Dem!"

"Her name is Yuffie, and we're getting married!"

"What?" Zexion looked at him.

"Married?" Kairi echoed.

"Isn't it great? She just came up and asked me! Well, after I got to know her a bit…"

Zexion and Kairi looked at each other. "Aren't you… kinda rushing into things?" Kairi asked.

Demyx scolded, "No!"

"Dem, what's her last name?"

"Details! Details! I love her, Zexy, I _really_ do."

Zexion sighed, but smiled. "Congrats." Demyx squeezed him once more.

"I knew you'd be happy!" he shouted. "You'll be my best man, RIGHT?"

"Yeah—of course."

"You'll be there too, Kairi?" Demyx asked.

"Yeah! We should go celebrate! Zexion's treat!" She linked arms with the two of them, ignoring Zexion's bewildered look.

She was late, she noted, when she saw Axel sitting on the stoop by the door. She stared at him. He was so blurry. She was still dizzy from the drinks she had illegally consumed. Axel's voice rang in her ears, but surprisingly not at her. He was yelling at her companions. She wobbled over to him, slurred something about loosening up and then vomited on Axel's feet. She then passed out in said vomit.

She awoke to a piercing headache. She wasn't on the sidewalk. No, she was in her room. She sat up quickly, regretting it once she had done so. She looked at Roxas, who smiled at her.

"Thanks for the birthday present," he laughed.

She blinked, confused and tired. "How long have I've been sleeping?" she grumbled.

"Well—you guys came home at two in the morning… Kairi, what were you thinking?" he asked. Kairi watched him pace. "Drinking, too! You're underage, do you know what kind of trouble Demyx and Zexion could have gotten into?!"

"Like you'd never done it—" She tried to stop herself, but it came out- quick, harsh and cold.

"I never did, reason why I am in here instead of Axel…"

She blinked; she didn't remember Axel drinking in front of her, at least. She crossed her arms with a pouting sigh. "So what are you gonna do? Ground me?"

"No, I want you not to do it again, ever."

"I won't, but, Rox—"

"Promise?"

"Yes—" But before she could get anything else out, he walked out, slamming the door behind him.

"Happy Birthday Roxas," she whispered to nobody, because once again, she was all alone.

Alone because Roxas was avoiding her, Demyx was too happy in 'la-la land' to speak, and Zexion… Zexion wasn't talking to her. She sunk into her schoolwork, trying to get her mind off everything because she didn't go. She didn't go to court; her father was a free man. A free man to do whatever he pleased while her mother rotted in the ground, because Kairi was selfish and didn't think. It was all her fault. She remembered thinking about it as she walked home with Riku and Sora.

"Kairi!"

"Huh?" she asked. She was so deep in thought that she didn't hear Sora call her name.

"Did you hear me?"

"Yeah, of course I heard you!"

Apparently she was also one hell of a good liar. She wondered why Sora was flushed and why Riku had walked ahead of them.

"Well? Do you wanna?"

"Yeah!" she agreed with enthusiasm to what she was hoping he would say soon. "I would love to."

"Great!" He smiled, happy and flushed. "I'll pick you up at seven!"

"Seven is great!" She smiled. What- seven? her mind cried out to him, what are you talking about? But when Sora kissed her on the cheek and ran off to catch up with Riku, it clicked.

She was going on a date with him.

At least, that's what she was hoping she agreed to. The other option was much messier. A date, on the other hand, wasn't a decree that they were going to get married and have five kids. It wasn't a commitment; it was just a date. She opened the door with a groan, throwing her bag on the ground with her shoes.

"Kairi!" said a soft familiar voice. She turned to face a smiling blonde girl. She had a white dress that came down to her knees and her pale skin was radiant in the light. She had soft blue eyes and dropped the sketchbook that she took everywhere in order to embrace Kairi.

Kairi jumped into her, filled with excitement. "Naminé!" she screamed. This was her best friend, after all.

"You nearly broke my ear drum!" she giggled.

"Oh, Namie, I've missed you so much. I meant to write, really, I did!" She hadn't honestly thought about home in ages, much less writing to her. "How are you? How is everyone? Come here and sit!"

Naminé laughed, sitting next to Kairi. "Well, I'm fine. Everyone is fine, but they all miss you to death!" She smiled. "But Airi, how are you?"

She wanted to assure her best friend that was she was perfectly okay, but it didn't feel that way. "I have my ups and downs, but it's good… did you know that Axel is an actor?"

"Oh my God, I know, he's really good!" she sighed. "Speaking of Axel… who is the mystery blond he ran away for?"

Kairi laughed, she remembered when she had begged Axel to marry Naminé when they were younger. She had kicked him in the shins until he gave in. He didn't marry her, but he went on a few dates with her for the sake of his shins. Naminé had reported that her brother was a lousy date—and Kairi had begun to wonder how long he had felt for other men?

"Uh… Blondie is around." She felt awkward using Axel's pet name for Roxas. "Pretty good person… to talk to…" She was very careful with her words. She wondered why. Naminé had read enough yaoi to fan girl over this—and that, she decided, was the answer.

"So Axel said you lived with three other guys—what's that like?"

"Fun," she lied. She had been avoiding Marluxia since the accident, Demyx could only rattled on about Yuffie, and Zexion wasn't talking to her.

"Any single?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows. Kairi laughed, she loved when Naminé got like that.

"Well, Demyx is getting married—but there's always Marluxia…" She mentally hurt herself, why was she trying to set her friend up with him? "Speak of the devil," she gave her best plastic smile when Marluxia came over.

"Kai, who is your beautiful friend?" He smiled at Naminé's blush.

"Marluxia, this is Naminé…"

"Enchanted." He kissed her hand, and Kairi wanted to kill him. Instead, she stood watching them get into a conversation, him sitting down next to her, and then she walked away. She was being selfish, she knew, not saying anything about Zexion and feeding Naminé to the dogs. She promised herself it was just revenge. Kairi never would have witnessed her mother die if she had been at Naminé's, but they had gotten into a huge fight. She couldn't even remember what it was about, and she had gone home early. She knew it wasn't fair, but she was just using it as an excuse.

She turned to the matter at hand- why Naminé was there. Obviously, Axel had thought that the blonde could distract her from getting into more trouble. She sighed. She deserved that much, she knew. She decided to go talk to him about… anything. She had remembered the way to his room by heart, not knocking, just stepping in with her eyes closed. She heard a yell in surprise, she was right to have closed her eyes. She stood in Roxas' room, waiting for one of them to say something.

"It's call knocking, Kai!" It was Axel, putting his pants back on. Annoyance filled his voice.

"Sorry." She didn't really care. "Are you decent?"

"No." Axel replied. "Now get out."

"You can finish sexing when I'm done," she put bluntly. "I need to talk to you."

"…Rox—could you?"

"It's all good..." He pushed past Kairi to exit the room. At that point, she opened her eyes. Axel was sitting in Roxas' bed.

"You really were sexing, weren't you?" she said, wrinkling her nose.

"You said you needed to talk—and if it's about my personal life, then get out-"

"Mom cried when you left. She cried a lot- whenever she would read the note or someone would say your name. She would just start bawling and wouldn't stop…" He looked away from her, but she didn't notice. "I wondered why you'd left for the first few months… and then, when I saw that you weren't going to burst in and save her, I figured it out…"

"Kai—"

"I thought you just didn't care and that you were tired of saving her… so you had decided that you weren't going to put up with it anymore…" she paused to look at him. "I swore that I would never forgive you for that…not even if you were half-dead…"

He sat, silent, waiting for her to go on.

"I decided I would ignore it, just like you did—but it's not like him. I would tell myself he wasn't hurt the way you were…" She held back her tears; she had to say this. "It didn't make me any better then you. No, she died because I couldn't save her—I just watched him… kill her… watched him and then, when it was too late… I realized that this wasn't a sitcom. It was really happening…" Tears rolled down her cheek. "I know now, you didn't leave me to defend for myself—you tried to kill him that night, I remember him screaming about it before she… died." She stared at her brother; he didn't take his eyes off her. "You didn't want to leave—but it was a one-time deal and you would come back… make things all better… you just didn't come back soon enough…"

"Kai…" His voice was in a hushed whisper.

"I know it doesn't mean anything. Not now. But I am sorry… so sorry…" She couldn't take it anymore. She started bawling, and he rushed over to her.

"Hey, princess, hey now… don't let that asshole get to you… don't let him win. You didn't do anything wrong—it wasn't your fault, you were scared…we were all scared…"

"We should have done something," she sobbed.

"A little too late for the should-haves and could-haves, Kai. Listen, do you really think she would have wanted us to be like this?"

"No… she'd be kicking your ass and doing my hair," she giggled.

"Well, she did like you better."

"It because I didn't try to cook canned tuna fish—in the microwave."

"Oh c'mon, you were all fussy—but hey, you know we'll survive this, together."

"Axel?"

"What?"

"You can go back to sexing now," she laughed and he picked her up.

"That's it. I disown you. You are out of this room now!"

Zexion was right, she was getting better and it was getting easier. She could smile, more real and prettier than before, but she still had her lying trick.

Axel jumped up when the doorbell rang, mobbing poor Sora at the door, questioning him left and right.

"I think he left all his drugs at home," Roxas joked.

"Drugs!" Axel yelled, outraged. "You will not be with a druggie! I will sit on you Kairi! Sit. On. You."

"Oh c'mon, Axey," Roxas purred, ignoring his brother's vomiting sound. "I was just kidding…let Kairi have some fun—I'm sure we can trust my little brother…"

"Positive?"

Roxas nodded and Axel waved his hand. Kairi giggled, grabbing Sora's hand, and took him out of the house.

"I don't have drugs…" Sora mumbled, once in the safety of his car.

"I know drugs are beneath you."

It was a long drive, to wherever it was that they were going to, and Kairi mostly thought about her life… and Zexion.

"Sora?"

"Yeah, Kairi?"

She hesitated. She really didn't want to hurt Sora; he was her best friend, after all. "Why did you ask me out?"

He looked at her for a moment, then another. "What are you talking about?"

She froze. What a good question, she thought to herself.

"You weren't listening were you?"

"No," she admitted.

He laughed, a cheery, good laugh, turning his attention back to the road. "I thought so—that's why I kissed you, to throw you off…"

"What! Why would you do that?"

"To freak you out," he snickered.

"_Sora_…" she whined, like Demyx. "That's not fair!"

"Life ain't fair, sister."

She couldn't argue with that logic. So instead, she set her head on the window. She watched the dark road and its scenery go by, occasionally trying to pester the location out of him, which he was _so_ stubborn about. When they had arrived, only to meet another car in the dark, he smiled at her.

"This is where I leave you, madam," He got out of his car before Kairi could protest. She was going to march out after him, but then _he_ came in, and Kairi was rendered speechless. For all the people in the world that she would have guessed to see, he was not one of them.

"What are you doing, Zexion?"

"Something illegal, you know you're a minor?"

"No shit..."

"It'll make things sticky, but not unworkable. I mean, you look eighteen, you look beautiful…"

Hello! Brain calling Kairi? Brain calling Kairi- are we still intact? Kairi was hardly intact. She was like Jell-O on ice, staring into his eyes… Eyes?

"You have another eye!"

"What? Did you think I was a pirate?"

She smiled, leaning over to kiss his cheek ever so slightly, and they drove into the night.

**--le fin **

**Well by far this is the longest thing I have ever typed up& on fanfiction—I am by far the proudest I have ever been about any of my works. I truly worked my ass off on this bitch and I pray to god that it was worth it. **

**I'd like to thank Rawkin Paradox for giving her opinion at ****three am****, and whenever I asked of it. Warm. Summer. Nights. Who made me think of the crazy crack idea in the first place; not to mention beta-ed. Jade who allow me to enter her contest, and is just overall awesome. My many inspirations; Suki—getting my hooked on axelroxas, Constance—for her amazing sense of humor, Skitts—for getting me into the whole Axelkairi brother&sister thing. I would like to especially like to thank; you the reader for you have actually bothered to give this story a chance and I am ever so happy that you read it. **

**I would hope to god that you would leave a review on your way out, I would love that very much. **

**--silver moon droplet **


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